Am I ready? Almost.
Am I motivated to finish getting ready? Not quite.
What do I need most at this moment? Wrapping paper.
What do wish I had right now? Someone who likes to wrap.
Favorite gift purchased? Benjamin's Jumpy.
Least favorite gift purchased? Madden NFL Football '08 for Playstation.
People left to buy for? Gift card for Grandpa and pick up pictures for Grandma and the Geezer's gifts.
Money dropped to date? DON'T EVEN WANT TO KNOW.
what Madeline asked Santa to bring her, you can check it out for yourself.
Kitty Wigs
And really you shouldn't be surprised, she is a diva. And in case you're now trying to decide what kind of nut job makes this kind of stuff, I have no idea.
Please give enough patience to take benjamin to the mall. Child services frowns on leaving toddlers home alone so although I know this is going to end in a meltdown I must take him.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld
O plus D - don't be offended if you get one of these cards from me. I seriously mean it in the nicest way possible.
I'm supposed to show up at Ed's school tonight for the big game with my kids at 6:30. That's less than 5 hours from now. The kicker is that we're all supposed to be wearing black. Its a Black Out - get it? He brought home Spirit shirts for Sam and I, but they didn't sell them in Ben's size. So I have to find Ben a shirt in black. Have I looked? No because I'm sure they don't sell black toddler shirts, but I don't want to disappoint the Man so I'm stressing about it. Have I gotten dressed to even go to a store and look? No. I'm hoping any minute a black toddler shirt is going to fall out of the sky and land in my lap. I'm sitting here stressing about it, but beyond writing about my stress, I'm doing NOTHING to solve the problem. Isn't there a pill for this kind of condition?
I know it is a bit early to be thinking about this, but I really want to do an Advent Calendar of family activities this year. I've been researching a bit and have found some cool daily ideas. I've still got to make my list and then match it to a calendar to plan realistically by day. I'm excited and I think it will be fun.
There is a neat list here. She also does a Summer Advent, which is cool as well. I'll have to try and remember this one for next year.
And another one here.
And there are some good ones here. And read the comments because there are some great ones there, too.
I'm seriously thinking of doing something similar for the week of Halloween. I love Halloween and I always find so many fun foods and activities so I think I could make it a week long event.
It may be too late in the season to wear them, but I couldn't resist. I'll put them away for next Spring. I love them and the best part is that they were on Clearance for $7.49!!
Sam and I used to go to the same dentist. They were really good and he went there because I had been going there for a couple of years before he was born. I, or rather, we were happy there. And then we had to change. We switched to Ed's insurance when I changed from fulltime to parttime and with this change, we had to go to a new dentist. Being in the market for a new dentist anyway, I thought we'd give the pediatric dentist a try. I found a highly recommended one that was on our dental plan and made him an appointment. Today was our first visit.
There were kids everywhere. This place was busy, but everyone was happy. No tears anywhere. Sitting in the waiting room, that was over done with jungle scenes, everything started to feel oddly familiar. And then it hit me, I was at the Disney World of children's dentists. I kid you not. This place was organized, well run, and catered to their customers. I have never been to a more efficient or organized medical office. Not to mention the fact that it was decorated like a Disney attraction and had video games and big screen TVs playing Spongebob. Sam hardly noticed that he had a cleaning. He even got two tokens for prizes at the check out. Cheezy prices, but definitely a payoff.
Because I shop in real life, virtually, and vicariously, I've bookmarked a new site that I've been visiting daily.
Frugal-Fashionista - takes an outfit of a star and finds similar fashions at great prices. From this site, I've found a few new online retailers. I haven't bought anything, but I'm always on the lookout for a great deal that I absolutely cannot live without.
I hate homework more now than I did when I was in school. The afternoon fights, ultimatums, and threats are getting on my last nerve. This kid is driving me insane. He acts as though his homework is my responsibility. No way Dude. I've done my fair share of homework. It is your turn Friend. I'll gladly listen to you read. I'll help you when you try and can't do it. I'll call out spelling words and check your math. BUT I'll only do these things when you are focused and trying your best. When you are dancing around the living room stuffing candy in your face and basically wasting my time and yours, you're on your own.
He has HOW MANY more years of homework!?!?!
and I'm a shopaholic. 
First it was none of my clothes fit because I was putting on weight. So I shopped. A lot. Then I got fed up with my increasing behind and started dieting and exercising. Now my clothes don't fit so I shop. I can't stop shopping. Ed is going to kill me. I'm not putting us into debt. I've been working so many hours lately that I've been paying for everything myself, but at some point the madness has to stop. I really think I can't help myself. I may need to enter some type of program for this.
Today I have proven myself worthy of that title. I still have a few more runs before I am an exclusive Runner. I'm still in the Walk/Run phase of the program and will be until next Saturday. Yikes that is only 8 days away.
I had every reason not to run today. I hurt my back last night and it is still sore. Because I hurt my back, I didn't sleep well last night. I woke up with a headache and a sour attitude. Oh and cramps. Lovely.
I put Ben down for a nap, and I ran. I ran during my 45 minutes of alone time before Sam got off the bus.
I ran even though I physically felt drained and I used my ONLY alone time for the day to do it. It felt great and I did it. I am a RUNNER!
If you know me, you know that I ♥ Disney. I've given Disney the majority of my vacation dollars over the last 15 years. I'd go tomorrow if I could. And I'd wear my Ears and my Mickey shirt if I could get an insider's tour of the castle. Oh WDW, how I love thee.
BUT, the online Disney store. Today, they aren't my on list of friends. On Monday the Buzz Lightyear costume, that Ben hasn't asked for, but desperately wants I'm sure, was $10 off. WooHoo. But I didn't have time to order. Yesterday, it was $15 off. Even better. Today, I sit down with my Visa in hand to order the costume of Benjamin's dreams. Imagine my total devastation when I discovered that it is no longer on sale. It never said that there was a sale or that it ended on a certain day. I was assuming* it was a permanent markdown. I'm not yet prepared to pay $40. $30 was OK and $25 was fabulous, but I'm not at the $40 point yet.
The Disney store giveth and the Disney store taketh away. Grrrr Disney. Grrrr.
* As in the Disney store made an A$$ outta me.
First call from the school nurse. His nose is running. I laughed. I couldn't help it. The first thing that went through my mind is "He's a kid. His nose is supposed to be running."
Granted, he does have allergies. Ed ran over some Claritin and that was the end of it for today.
I'm taking odds on how many days/weeks/months until the next nurse call. I'm guessing 4.5 weeks, but that's probably generous. They usually come in pairs so she could call later this week. We'll just have to wait and see.
I stepped on my scale this morning and saw my pre-pregnancy weight. I couldn't believe it. I actually moved the scale around and re-weighed myself to be sure. Each and every time, that magic number appeared. I've finally made it back to where I started 2+ years ago.
I have another goal weight. The one that I'd like to be so I'm not stopping yet. Even before I got pregnant, I wanted to drop a few pounds. I feel great and the running is getting easier. And the dieting is going OK. Moderation seems to be the key for me. And well, moderation is very hard. Have I mentioned how much I adore a baked good? And have I mentioned that dieting has added about $40-50 to my grocery bill. Ouch. There are Lean Cusines and every 100 calorie pack known to man in my cart, but at least it is starting to pay off.
And one last thing. I haven't worn shorts in public in a while. I did wear them to Disney World, but no one there knew me and quite frankly, I'm far from the worst one there. Or at least that is what I tell myself as I'm putting the shorts on. This was even before I got pregnant. I just never felt like my legs were toned. I can now wear some of those pre-pregnancy shorts that I would only wear to Disney World. I'm not ready to wear them out in public yet, but I am getting more comfortable of the idea of wearing shorts again. The running is really helping tone my legs. Maybe next Summer, I'll show up somewhere wearing shorts.
I'd never heard of this type of breast cancer before I came across a fairly popular blog of a really neat Mom that was recently diagnosed with IBC. She's asking that everyone who reads her blog help spread the word about the most aggressive form of breast cancer.
Please stop by and read her post about what every woman should know about Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
How dare you honk and shake your hands at me when I am stopped at a crosswalk in front of a school. Those were little kids and no matter how late you are they are more important. And it is the law to stop.
Oh wait we just turned on the four laned road and you just zoomed around me. You have a christian fish symbol on the back of your car. What would Jesus think about the fact that you think your time is more important than the safety of children. I tell you what. I'll just pray that my children never meet your inpatient ass in a crosswalk.
Have a nice day hon. And try not to run anyone over.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld
Well, he got off the bus in tears. A bit of a misunderstanding on whether he should ride the bus home or would be picked up in the carpool line. The teacher sent him to carpool but at the last minute after he insisted, they put him on the bus. She immediately called me to make sure. He is such a worrier. Like I would never come and get him if there was a mistake.
And then I was standing in front of the neighbor's driveway and not at the very end of the street when the bus came. I did this because he was so insistent last year that he didn't need me to come all the way down. So I tried to give him a little space by only coming 2/3 of the way, but he freaked because he didn't see me. I saw him so it wasn't like I was hiding behind a bush or anything. He started crying because he started to second guess the bus/carpool thing all over again. Tomorrow, he wants me to meet him at the end of the street. Obviously, he still needs Mom more than he thought.
And then there were tears over the book he forgot to take. But he did take the book, he just didn't listen yesterday when I told him it was in his backpack. He can't stand to be any thing less than perfect at school. If only he tried this hard at home ;-)
I asked if the day was so bad, and he said no. I think he is just a bit tired from the long day. Here's hoping to a better day tomorrow.
So I got Benjamin a toddler bed. Its the really cool race car bed from Little Tykes and he loves it. And he's sleeping through the night in his room in his new bed. A huge thing for us because he's always slept in our room and hardly ever slept through the night.
This is totally fabulous except for the fact that he is now waking up between 4:30 and 5:30 FOR THE DAY. Ed, who couldn't wait to get him out of our room, said to me this morning, "Maybe we should move that race car into our room." Not going to happen. I'll just start going to bed at 8 or so. This morning, I got two loads of laundry washed, dried, folded and put away before I left the house at 7. I refuse to go backwards on this sleep thing. But in a few days, I'll probably be eating these words.
